It is known to provide a motor vehicle seat mounted on the floor by a seat adjusting mechanism so that the seat can be adjusted fore and aft and up and down to adjust the occupant seating position.
It is also known to provide an occupant restraint belt for restraining an occupant in the vehicle seat. It has been recognized in the prior art as desirable to mount the seat belt directly on the seat so that the belt travels with the seat during adjusting movement of the seat. The prior art has also provided load transfer mechanisms acting between the seat belt anchorage on the seat and the vehicle floor to transmit the occupant restraint load directly to the floor rather than transmitting the occupant restraint load through the seat adjusting mechanism.
The present invention provides a new and improved seat belt load transfer mechanism comprised of an extensible cylinder filled with electro-rheological fluid and acting between the floor and the seat belt anchorage to transmit the occupant restraining load.